The common bed system in known caskets consists of a flat metal frame and spring system, with crank means being provided at each end of the frame for vertically raising and lowering the frame and corpse. The end adjustments are separately operable so that the corpse may be inclined downwardly in the casket from head to toe during viewing by mourners. It is common practice at some funeral parlors for the body to be angled downwardly at perhaps three degrees or so, with the face of the deceased being above the top level of the base of the casket and the toes or shoe tips being approximately at the top level of the base. While body placement varies somewhat from one funeral parlor to the next, the face forward of the ears is usually viewable from the side from across a room. In addition to a portion of the head level being above the base, the body is frequently tilted angularly a small amount, particularly the upper torso, so that the body faces slightly toward the viewing side of the casket. Some higher-priced caskets are known to have an auxiliary mechanism associated with the crank means to enable the bed frame to be so tilted.
Although the separate end adjustments of the conventional frame in moderate and lower-priced caskets can readily provide the desired head-to-toe angle, they cannot accommodate the angular torso tilting. It is also believed that none of them in any price range can accommodate another desirable feature, i.e., placing the chin relative to the chest so that the face has a natural, restful reclining appearance in relation to the rest of the body. These are ordinarily compensated for by selectively placing cushions, cotton stuffing, plastic bottles, folds of cardboard or other objects under the upper torso and head in order to prop the torso and head to the desired viewing positions. This is not known to the general public, some of which would find it objectional.